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U.S. Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) issued the following statement after the resignation of U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki:

“There is no doubt that General Eric Shinseki is a patriot and an individual who has spent much of his life in service to our nation. However, misconduct at the Department of Veterans Affairs that has been directly linked to the preventable deaths of veterans is absolutely unacceptable. These abuses occurred during Secretary Shinseki’s tenure, and his resignation was both necessary and appropriate,” said Rep. Royce. “It is critical that incoming leadership at the Department of Veteran Affairs holds those responsible for these travesties accountable, and works with Congress and the White House to ensure similar incidents never occur again.”

Rep. Royce recently voted for the Veterans Affairs Management Accountability Act of 2014, legislation that will provide the Secretary of Veterans Affairs greater authority to remove senior executives of the department and hold them accountable for negligence, poor performance, and mismanagement. The bill passed the U.S. House with a large bipartisan majority on May 21, 2014.